Daily Dispatch 10/31/23: Paxton Securities Fraud Trial Set For April, and More

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: After an eight-year delay, a trial date is set for Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, indicted on securities fraud charges - April 15, 2024: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2023/10/30/texas-attorney-general-ken-paxtons-criminal-trial-set-for-april-15/ A federal judge has ordered federal border agents to stop cutting razor wire - notably, unless that razor wire threatens to hurt migrants: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2023/10/31/judge-texas-razor-wire-mexico-united-states-border/71387164007/ ...While new immigration bills in process at the Capitol would transfer federal border authority to local "peace officers": https://www.texasobserver.org/immigration-local-police-border-hb-4/ That expletive-laden recording of U.S. Representative and Progress Texas-endorsed Houston mayoral candidate Sheila Jackson Lee came up in a debate at Texas Southern University: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/houston/article/mayoral-debate-jackson-lee-audio-18453370.php U.S. Representative Chip Roy of Austin (which is crazy) refuses to say whether he'll make any effort to avoid a federal government shutdown: https://thehill.com/homenews/house/4283701-chip-roy-spars-fox-business-varney-government-shutdown/#amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&aoh=16987086096865&csi=0&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&ampshare=https%3A%2F%2Fthehill.com%2Fhomenews%2Fhouse%2F4283701-chip-roy-spars-fox-business-varney-government-shutdown%2F Four of sixteen new federally-funded maternal mortality research centers will be located in Texas: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/10/30/texas-maternal-health-center-mortality/ Texas Republicans have been even goofier than usual lately on Twitter: https://www.dallasobserver.com/news/texas-republicans-tweets-are-batshit-crazy-this-week-17771366 And no surprise here, but Texas looms large nationally when it comes to new residents moving in from other states: https://www.star-telegram.com/news/state/texas/article281207018.html Don't forget to vote! Early voting ends Friday, and election day is in one week, on Tuesday November 7. Grab our handy voter guide, and consider making a donation to help us continue our important work, at https://progresstexas.org/.